Costa Mesa Employees File Suit to Stop Layoffs

By |May 17, 2011

Costa Mesa employees have asked an Orange County Superior Court judge to order the Costa Mesa City Council to do what they can’t get it to do on its own: rescind more than 200 pink slips.

In a request filed Monday for a temporary restraining order, the Costa Mesa Employees’ Association argues that the city’s outsourcing plan, which so far has included the issuing notices of possible layoffs to 200 employees, violates both state law and their contract, which runs through 2013.

“The city did not have the legal authority to take this action,” said Nick Berardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Association, which represents the CMEA in contract issues.

City officials declined comment.

“The city attorney’s office has not seen the complaint,” said Bill Lobdell, interim communications spokesman for Costa Mesa. “Once the attorneys can review it, the city will have a response.”